From mid-December, the USD price has been increased constantly at commercial banks, which experts said is due to the “seasonal” factor at the end of the year and concern over the impact of the US Federal Reserve (FED)’s increase of interest rates, as well as expectations for a new exchange rate adjustment.

However, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has reiterated its plan to keep the rate stable.

Recently, the SBV reduced interest rate for deposits in USD by both organisations and individuals to zero percent, which is said to be a right move to curb dollarization and stabilize the foreign exchange rate.

Nearly two weeks after this reduction, some banks reported that a number of individual customers switched their USD deposits to VND.-VNA